|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Posts
 Recent Posts
Holy Symbols Icons Part 2 Preview (Dark) Razmir thanks you for respectfully including his symbol among the icons of the other dieties. At the First Step, in the Exalted Wood of Razmiran, a generous reward awaits you.
The waters are not only restorative, but invigorating. I feel bolstered by their qualities. Iacobus remarks, with wonder in his tone. Such magics would be truly valuable indeed, in Razmir... he thinks to himself, casting detect magic in an attempt to learn more of the workings of the fountain.
His mind skirts around exactly why healing magics are so dear, in the distant homeland he knows only dimly.
Just a tradition, since Razmir himself wears one. Iacobus says, examining the exit. Although, as Razmir's clergy remain quite new to the game, and relatively inexperienced compared to the centuries old temples and heirarchies of, say, Sarenrae, some say it serves to obscure exactly how few highly experienced divine clergymen we truly have. he admits. Perception near door
Catching his breath, huffing slightly behind his ornate mask, Iacobus muses, I am not entirely comfortable with the idea of resting here. It feels like a subtle sort of trap, to encourage us to idleness, while our rivals forge ahead... Iacobus incants a brief phrase, and scans over the area for signs of magical auras.
"I am hardly a trapsmith, but the mechanism behind the axes seems far easier to jam, having a single point of connection on the ceiling." Iacobus muses, dismissing the hallway of dancing blades as some arcane trickery. "Dird's observation regarding deception is insightful. Only magic could cause this sort of precision we see before us, and it could well be illusory." "Hmm. 'Go safely among the blade and axe,' sounds as if we are supposed to pass through *both* of these passageways. Perhaps our goal requires us to acquire something found at the end of each passageway, such the halves of a key?"
AHHH.. GO TAKE 31 STEPS OFF A SHORT PIER MATEY!!!
The First Step;
Spoiler:
In the first Test, which Razmir later called 'The First Step,' the Living God found himself alone on a featureless white plain. No art at his command functioned, and he stood alone. He could attempt to move forward, but saw no sign of progress, and could not be sure whether or not he had ever truly taken a step.
While a lesser man might have railed against the gods, calling the challenge unfair, or given in to despair, Razmir sat down and meditated upon the challenge before him. He came to the conclusion that if the challenge could not be beaten or fought or argued against, that it must be *accepted* as a lesson of some sort. And so he meditated upon the lesson. Was it a test of patience? It seemed not, for he felt his still-mortal body experiencing hunger and thirst and fatigue, lending the experience a sense of urgency. Was it a test of cleverness? Again, it seemed not, for none of his arcane arts or skills or feats of training availed him in this place. He came to accept it as a test of faith, and stood to genuflect to the various gods who had come before, those of ancient and uncertain origin, and those few who had passed the Test of the Starstone before him. And he stepped forward, and the world was no longer white around him, for that was the First Step, to accept and respect the power and authority of the gods who had come before and to realize that no worldly power or accomplishment or station in life could earn him this opportunity to stand among them. The Third Step;
Spoiler:
The 3rd step saw Razmir moving among the people of Absalom, but all was gray, and the people seemed like ghosts, unable to see or hear him. From this vantage point, he could not only see them, but also see the personal devil's that beset them, their fears and doubts and worldly troubles, and while he could not interact with the gray people, he could interact with the brightly colored spirits representing their mortal woes. Some ills he found that he could grapple with and dispell, overcoming illnesses or injuries with force, and leaving the people looking a little less gray than before, as if they could *almost* see him. Other ills proved more subtle, and he found himself moved to parley and negotiate with the representations of ills such as self-doubt and marital strife, to the same result, the brightening of the gray people around him. He came to recognize the many ills that beset man as signs of disorder, reflected in this place, and by restoring the flesh of the ill or injured, he reset the natural order of their limbs, while those who were beset by more social issues benefitted from guidance, discipline and structure. And so the 3rd Test was to understand the role of the priesthood, to minister to the ills of the many races of man, and prepared him for the day when, as a god, he would give of his own personal power to empower those who are called to his clergy, and who speak in his name. The Eighth Step
Spoiler:
The Eighth Test of the Starstone found Razmir presented with a blank white parchment in his grasp. No magic at his command or clarity of vision would reveal any message on this parchment, but as he handled it, he felt areas where the parchment had known the touch of an inkpen, although the ink remained imperceptible to his sight. He spent a time handling the parchment under a variety of lighting conditions, conjuring forth magical illumination in an attempt to coax forth the concealed writings on the parchment, to no avail, although he did discover that the ink was also white in color, when some came off onto his fingers. Attempting to alter the color of the inks (or the paper itself) with minor magic proved ineffective, and Razmir again sat down to meditate.
After a time, he opened his eyes and drew forth flint and steel, striking a spark and setting the god's message aflame, watching dispassionately as the paper curled and blackened, and the white ink turned bright against the now-darkened page. Very delicately, he peered at the writings of the gods, careful not to touch the scorched papyrus, which would have fallen to ash at the slightest disturbance, destroying for all time the secret message of the gods. The message was this, "We are watching. Be our Herald, and remind the world that we are watching." It had been many years since the Test of the Starstone had been passed, and the path to the gods was obscured by many heresies, such as the Left-Hand Path of Diabolism, or the Green Faith of the animists, so that the Living God was tasked to remain on Golarion, to remind the many races of man that the true gods still watched over the world, as shepherds to a flock that was increasingly straying away from the true path.
So when is Razmir going to bring in the Celebrity endorsements..like from a short permanently grinning actor/bard..not that the Cult of Razmir is in anyway connected to certain real world cults off course.. We take great offense at being compared to a man with an enormous schnozz. Don't you see the masks? Heave to and prepare to be sued for libel!
"Perhaps the door itself is the counterweight, and the way to stop the axes motion is to close the door? It would require a leap of faith, and the ability to withstand or foil the initial strike while we pile into the corridor before closing the door, but might be an option..." Iacobus muses. "It sounds crazy enough to be a 'test.' Then again, it might also simply chop up anyone foolish enough to think so..."
Iacobus appraises the swinging blades, checking first to see if there is room for a figure to crawl safely past them, and looks to Dird. "Could there be some way of jamming the mechanism, either on an individual basis, blade by blade, or all at once, by damaging whatever system of weights is used to keep them in motion?" He attempts to peer past the blades, as he speaks, looking for some sign of a lever or similar device on the far side.
Initiative Iacobus quickly steps in and to the side, uncoiling a long, leather lash as he does, moving alongside Soven in his advance, lending words of advice to Soven as he moves to engage. "Mind the claws, he's sweeping for the torso." His whip cracks viciously, but he seems to be harrying the beast, not actually striking at it.
Aid Other roll (to hit AC 10)
Iacobus regards the stone face curiously. Does it resemble a local figure of reknown, an (in)famous Pathfinder, perhaps, or otehrwise have distinctive features?
"Curious, the curves in this passageway. Such things take long months to construct, and a meaningless curve would be an unnecessary expense. Perhaps the passage bends to avoid support columns, or something similar..."
Seeing the uncertain lighting, Iacobus reaches into his haversack, which is now slung over his shoulder, and produces a locket on a chain, that glows with continual flame. He wraps the chain thrice around the wrist of his weapon arm, so that the flame illumines both in front and behind (but not so much to his opposite side).
'Long have we to find our way. Emerge from blood victoriously. Go safely among blade and axe. And do not suffer violent facts. Constantly rises enemy again and again. You must protect thy LEGACY.' 'My legacy? It's going to attack my testicles?' Iacobus thinks whimsically, before shaking his head to clear it of nonsense. "Go safely among blade and axe. And do not suffer violent facts. Constantly rises enemy again and again." He says aloud, "Suggesting that an obvious violent solution may prove both untrue, and uneffective, as the enemy rises again and again, no matter how many times struck down." His voice takes on a somewhat startled tone, "Oh please don't let this challenge involve a troll... I hate trolls."
Upon recognizing it as Elven, Iacobus makes sure that Soven gets a good view of it, "Could you, perhaps, translate this for us? I am afraid that I do not read the script of the fair folk."
Iacobus casts detect magic, upon seeing the crystal ball, which he can't imagine is a *real* crystal ball, but can't resist checking. While the spell is active, he sweeps his gaze around the room as well. He specifically examines the book on the table, flipping through the pages before and after it's current selection, and then returning it to the page it was currently displaying. He then turns to the books and looks for a sign that one or more are missing, looking not so much for what *is* there, but for the negative space indicative of a book having been removed.
Iacobus starts, a soft snort emitting from behind his mask. Apparently, he's been napping while others prepare themselves, and he gets to his feet and follows along to the library. "The 'legacy' of a Pathfinder is in the lore that is chronicled regarding their exploits and discoveries. As I understand it, there is fierce competition to have one's expeditions immortalized in a chronicle, and the process serves as a motivational tool to encourage individual Pathfinders to seek out more unique and exotic discoveries, worthy of being written up and distributed as a chronicle." Thinking aloud, he continues, "The first assumption would be that the Pathfinders with the most chronicled expeditions would have the highest status. But it would seem to me that the most fascinating and significant discoveries would be the ones least likely to have been published, due to their having unearthed lore that is neither safe nor appropriate to distribute to the reading public. Secrets and histories of a world-altering nature, so to speak." "It would be interesting indeed if the leadership of the Pathfinders is composed of those whose discoveries remain forbidden secrets, and who would be regarded as low-status nobodies by their subordinates..."
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
